mitch mcconnell reached out to him. he really appears, by all accounts, helped to move the needle forwar. he has more than 30 years service as a u.s. senator. the 23 of those were spent serving alongside mitch mckonl. they have a good-working relationship. a strong-working relationship. the vice president knows how the inner workings of the senate work here in d.c. he is certainly someone who has been useful over the course of the past 24 hours. president obama, for his part, has been placing phone calls, as well. he has launched this two-pronged approach behind the scenes and launching this very public cam paraphernal campaign. democrats, you heard him come out today and sail this is not a perfect plan. it doesn't do everything we wablted. as you know, he ran on that campaign of increasing taxes on those who make $250,000 or more. the deal that is coming to fruition is those making more than $450,000. and there's some other compromises. so the president really taking a two-pronged approach here as these negotiations co